A research and exhibition project
at the Tieranatomisches Theater Exhibition Research Lab,
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt-Universität zu
Berlin, Germany.Funded by the International Museum
Fellowship programme of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. The
project manager is Felix Sattler.

The human body played a vital role in Bronze Age Cretan social,
economic, political and other networks across two millennia.
However, most studies on Bronze Age Cretan corporeality have to
date mainly focused on iconographies of the human body, or, less
so, on skeletal remains. My research seeks to explore ways in which
current data can be better combined towards a more comprehensive
understanding of the human condition in Bronze Age
Crete.

Researcher Status: Principal Investigator (PI).

Duration: 2009 to date

Latest Publications (in press and printed):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. in press, ‘Exotic and Hybrid
Creatures in the art of prehistoric Greece and the
Aegean’, Hitchcock L.A., Davis B. (eds.), A Companion
to Aegean Art and Architecture,
Wiley-Blackwell.

Miniature vessels, although ubiquitous, are inadequately
defined and studied both in terms of theoretical issues (e.g.
miniaturisation), as well as practical ones (e.g. stratigraphy). My
research aims to conduct a systematic study and publication of such
vessels from Minoan Crete. By meticulously recording and
contextualising them, we will gain new, diachronic and
site-specific knowledge about artistic and economic issues in
Minoan societies, perhaps even issues of age and gender.

Researcher Status: Principal Investigator (PI).

Duration: 2006 to date

Latest Publications (printed):

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. 2012, ‘Miniature Vessels from
Petras’, in Tsipopoulou M. (ed.), Petras, Siteia, 25
years of excavations and studies, Acts of a two-day conference held
at the Danish Institute at Athens, Greece, 9-10 October 2010,
Monographs of the Danish Institute at Athens vol. 16:
255-264.

The Galatas Minoan Palace and City publication project, Crete,
Greece.

The Zakros Minoan Palace and City publication project, Crete,
Greece.

The Petras Minoan Palace publication project, Crete,
Greece.

The Armenoi Mycenaean Necropolis publication project, Crete,
Greece.

Selected Funding:

Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), USA. (2009).

The Galatas Minoan Palace and City publication
project

The Galatas Minoan Palace and City excavation and publication
project is directed by Drs. Y. Rethemiotakis and K. Christakis
under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and with
funding from INSTAP. My role within the project is the study and
publication of the Middle Minoan III pottery and the miniature
vessels.

Middle Minoan III has seen renewed interest in the bibliography
recently, for two main reasons: a) the fact that it represents the
transition between the Old and the New Palace periods in Crete,
therefore holding valuable clues as to societal and economic
shifts; b) the continuing elusion of its clear stratigraphic
boundaries, which would help elucidate those shifts. The MMIII
deposits at the Palace of Galatas are exceptional in their nature
and stratigraphy. It is therefore hoped that this subproject,
focusing as it does on clearly stratified and carefully excavated
MMIII assemblages, will clarify many important issues connected to
this transition.

The Petras Minoan Palace and Cemetery excavation
and publication project is directed by Dr. M. Tsipopoulou under the
auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and with funding from
INSTAP. My role within the project is the study and publication of
the miniature vessels, figurines and plastic
vesssels.The Petras material, although not
extensive, is nevertheless really significant in the study and
comprehension of such classes of artefacts. It is already becoming
apparent that the detailed examination of the techniques,
variability, context and palatial provenance of the Petras
specimens will add hitherto undetected pieces in the puzzle of
their significance as artefacts and
concepts.

Tsipopoulou M,
Simandiraki-Grimshaw A. in press, ‘Cycladic figurines and
pottery from Petras, Siteia’, Cycladica In Crete:
Cycladic And Cycladicizing Figurines Within Their Archaeological
Context, International Symposium, Museum Of Cycladic
Art.

Simandiraki-Grimshaw A.
2017, ‘The ‘Petras Sphinx’: An Essay on
Hybridity’, in Tsipopoulou M. (ed.) Petras,
Siteia: The Pre- and Proto-palatial cemetery in
context, Acts of a two-day conference held at the Danish
Institute at Athens, 14-15 February 2015, Monographs
of the Danish Institute at Athens Volume 21, Danish Institute
at Athens: 179-193.

Archaeology is always involved in a complex network of often
conflicting identities, both in the past and the present. My
research in this area explores the manifold ways in which
archaeology and identity interact. This includes the development,
ontologies and assumptions of artefactual databases; heritage
micropolitics; disenfranchisement; boundaries of archaeological
identity; as well as nationalism, branding, politics
etc.

I am also fascinated by a sub-set of the archaeology and identity
thread, the interplay of education and archaeology. I pursue this
principally within the Greek context, but also in contexts where
international education and multiculturalism are more prominently
involved.

Juktas: Building B of the Minoan Peak Sanctuary,
Crete, Greece. PhD museum work. Herakleion Archaeological Museum
and Ephorate, Knossos Stratigraphic Museum. Also parallels from the
Palace of Knossos and the town of Kommos (1997-2002).

‘Interactive Intergenerational Research Project’
(international project), International Baccalaureate Research Team
(2003-2006).

‘CfBT E-learning research project’ (international
project), International Baccalaureate Research Team, CfBT (Centre
for British Teachers)
(2003-2006).

International Education
Fieldwork

Thompson J. Yao Z., Simandiraki A., 2003-2006,
Questionnaire design and implementation for a variety of
Final Year secondary school students world-wide, and collaboration
with local staff, involving ca. 3,000
students, School-University Transition Study,
International Baccalaureate Research Unit, University of Bath,
UK.

Cambridge J, Simandiraki A., 2003-2006, Interviews with a
variety of Final Year secondary school students in UK international
schools, e.g. in Sevenoaks School, Kent and UWC Atlantic
College, Wales, Interactive Intergenerational Research
Project, International Baccalaureate Research Unit, University
of Bath, UK.